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I am pleased to introduce Professor Benon C. Basheka. I have extensively read his published academic articles and keenly followed his academic journey. I am therefore happy to introduce a man who I can rightly call a mentor and now a colleague since 2002 when I began my teaching career at University level. Professor Basheka currently serves as a Professor in Governance at Kabale University in the newly created Department of Governance, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He also serves as an Extra-Ordinary Professor of Governance at the North Western School of Business and Governance and a visiting Professor and Research Fellow at the School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy in the College of Business and Management Sciences at the University of Johannesburg South Africa.
Prof. Basheka is also an active senior management consultant. Prof. Basheka has been a team leader for more than 40 high-level consultancy assignments for government, national and international organizations including CSOs. He was a governance and management consultant for the 2017 presidential visitation committee of Makerere University and he is currently a consultant on the presidential committee on the takeover of Busoga University as a Governance Specialist.
Prof. Basheka is a top academic. He is a doctoral examiner for a number of universities in Africa and a very active researcher. His google citation index stands at 1248 with an h-index of 18. He has successfully supervised over 500 graduate students and externally examined over 150 graduate students from different universities across different countries. He has also supervised to successful completion 20 Ph.D. students. He has hosted, chaired and co-chaired several international conferences within his area of specialty. He is currently the Chair of the Ist International Conference in Governance, Leadership and Social Economic Transformation to be hosted by Kabale University in May 2020.
Prof. Basheka has served in top administrative positions. Until August 31st 2019, he served as Vice-Chancellor Uganda Technology and Management University popularly known as UTAMU. Before his appointment as VC UTAMU, he worked as Professor and Dean School of Business and Management at the same university. He diligently executed his duties as VC for close to 5 years. While at UTAMU, he oversaw the growth of the university in terms of student numbers, financial revenue, research productivity, student completion rates and partnerships. As a result UTAMU was ranked consistently in the top 10 best universities in the web metrics ranking of universities.
Prof. Basheka made his name as a top academic with a passion for teaching and research at Uganda Management Institute as Senior Consultant/Lecturer and Head of Higher Degrees Department. While at UMI he won the coveted international prize for the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Public Administration for his paper entitled “the social determinants of public procurement corruption in Uganda: Implications for the delivery of public services” that was presented in a conference. The award was presented to him in Rio de Janeiro in July 2009.
Professor Basheka has been a supporter and friend to Kabale University even before being appointed full-time staff in September 2019. He served on the Kabale University Council and was a member of the Appointments Board and Planning and Resource Mobilization Committees. Within a period of less than 5 months after his appointment at Kabale University as full-time staff, Professor Basheka has spearheaded the launch of the 1st International Conference in Governance and Leadership at Kabale University in May 2020. He also wrote a concept paper about the need for academic and structural reforms that has since birthed and led to the operationalization of the Faculty of Economics and Management and the creation of the Departments of Governance and Social Work and Social Administration that fall under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Prof. Basheka has lobbied for the appointment of 7 visiting professors in the Department of Governance who will be helpful to Kabale University in staff mentorship. They will also help in the teaching in the soon to be launched Ph.D. in Public Administration and Management and other graduate programmes like Masters in Institutional Governance, Masters in Monitoring and Evaluation and Masters in Public Policy now under vetting and consideration by National Council for Higher Education (NCHE). Prof. Basheka also spearheaded the writing of the Ph.D. of Business Administration (By Research) also under consideration by NCHE.
Prof. Basheka was born in 1972 to Steven and Margaret Basheka of Karorwa-Bukinda Kabale District. He was raised in a humble and religious background that has helped him develop a unique quality of doing excellent work under minimum supervision. He is married to Justine Katureebe and they are blessed with two children. Prof. Basheka has a multidisciplinary academic background. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences of Makerere University with a Specialization in Political Science. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management; a graduate diploma in procurement and supply from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply UK; a Master’s degree in Project Management (UMI); Master’s Degree in Social Sector Planning and Management (MAK). He holds 2 PhDs. The first one is in Public Administration and Management (University of Dar es salaam). The second PhD is in Educational Administration, Planning and Management of Makerere University. In his line of academics, he has been mentored by leading academics in the region like Professor G. Mutahaba and Professor Mukandala both from Tanzania and many other leading academics especially at Makerere University.
Henry Ford once said “Anyone who stops learning is old — whether this happens at twenty or at eighty. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young but becomes constantly more valuable — regardless of physical capacity”. It seems Prof. Basheka is a student of Henry Ford. Our main celebrant believes that the need for more is never-ending. He is currently a student pursuing Bachelors in Law popularly known as LLB at Cavendish University Uganda.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Professor Benon C. Basheka Professor of Governance, Kabale University.
By Assoc Prof Mesharch Walto Katusiimeh
Dean Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences